WF Tours Bellingham and Whatcom County

WF Tours Bellingham and Whatcom County

In January Washington Filmworks (WF) Executive Director Amy Lillard and Productions Services Coordinator Krys Karns spent two days visiting Bellingham and areas of Whatcom County, Washington. Their host for this visit was film liaison Loni Rahm, President and CEO of Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism. She shared that “tourism is a natural ally of multimedia and film production. A primary goal of destination marketing involves communicating and stimulating the senses of a potential traveler in a way that creates curiosity about a place or an experience. Nothing helps tell that story quite like film.”

Frank Culp of Lake Whatcom Railway and Krys Karns

Lillard and Karns began day one at the Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism office. The staff had prepared maps of possible locations to scout for our ReelScout online location database. WF was thrilled with the diversity of unique locations in the County to choose from, selecting to scout Historic Pioneer Park, Hovander Homestead Park, Semiahmoo Parkway, and the Lake Whatcom Railway.

The day included a round table discussion with area filmmakers and a happy hour gathering followed. Bellingham’s film community is dedicated to growing its film industry by providing educational opportunities, networking events, venues to show local work, and most of all collaboration and mentoring.

Historic Pioneer Park

Bright and early on day two, Lillard and Karns shared breakfast with our San Juan Islands Film Liaison Barbara Marrett, Communications Manager of the islands’ Visitors Bureau. Marrett is no stranger to production as the San Juans have hosted productions from The Travel Channel, and Animal Planet, and the feature film Your Sister’s Sister.

Amy Lillard, Jack Louws and Krys Karns

WF had the pleasure of meeting with Jack Louws, Whatcom County Executive. This meeting was to discuss the important economic impact of film in our state and potential for future economic development.

On the drive back to Seattle Lillard and Karns drove Chuckanut Drive. This curvy byway hugs the rock shoulder of the Chuckanut Mountains and follows the shoreline with many spectacular views.

Washington Filmworks would like to thank Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism for their hospitality and interest in partnering with our organization to attract more film production to Washington State.